Spectrum 2.0

Review of 'Jet Set Willy II'

The sequel to Jet Set Willy got it's break after Software Projects saw the Amstrad conversion, which had a lot more rooms and thought it was a good idea to re-convert it back to the Spectrum as part 2.
In my opinion, Derrick Rowson did a great job with the sequel, which is not just an "extra room" enhancement over Smith's original.
You get about more 40 rooms, which, as the plot goes, relates to the green-skin builders which instead of just fixing some bad staircases from where Willy had a severe accident, also added several more rooms, including a rocket room, without even charging Willy for it!
Who were these builders? What are they after? Well, it's up to us players to find out.

Some of us may be annoyed because how similar the game is to part I, and I felt the same when I started playing it in 1985. But over the years the plot got under my skin, while discovering the game surprises, like the moon sequences which I didn't expect at all, or even the simple secret passage screen. Yes, it's true, Derrick could have changed the characters look a bit, but remember this was meant as an Amstrad conversion of the original, and not a sequel.
Maybe the blame should fall on Software Projects greed, for not putting a little more work, but overall it's still a great game. Nothing to put a shame Matthew Smith. Nowadays it would be called an "expansion pack". So maybe this was the first example of such software stunt.